Single
But
this
picky
girl
On
a
ceremonial
walk
in
April
With
his
last
suitor
Was
suddenly
struck,
intolerably,
By
the
irregular
hubbub
of
the
birds
And
through
the
disorder
of
the
leaves
Afflicted
by
this
tumult,
she
Saw
her
lover's
gestures
unbalance
the
air
His
gait
wandering,
uneven
Through
a
row
of
ferns
and
flowers.
She
judged
the
petals
in
disarray,
The
whole
season
neglected.
How
she
longed
for
winter,
then!
Scrupulously
austere
in
its
order
white
and
black,
Ice
and
rock,
every
feeling
well
circumscribed
And
the
cold
discipline
of
the
heart
Exact
like
a
snowflake.
But
here
-
a
budding
Turbulent
enough
to
cast
his
five
royal
spirits
In
a
vulgar
variegation
-
Unbearable
betrayal.
That
the
idiots
Stagger,
stunned,
in
the
spring
ruckus:
She
withdrew
skillfully
And
round
her
house
she
set
up
Such
a
barricade
of
obstacles
and
barbed
wire
Against
the
Mutinous
Season
That
no
insurgent
man
could
hope
to
break
it
By
swearing,
fist,
threat
Not
even
out
of
love.
